Fidelity
by Hime The Stars Shine Bright
Summary: 3 little words can mean so much when said to the right person. & in this fairy tale, perhaps there was no prince at all. The princess did not need protection from the dragon. What she needed was the dragon's protection itself.


_Story books full of fairy tales _  
><em> Of kings and queens and the bluest skies <em>  
><em> My heart is torn just in knowing <em>  
><em> You'll someday see the truth from lies <em>_  
>Knowing rain will fall down<em>_  
>Waves will crash around<em>  
><em>But you will <em>_be_  
><em>Safe<em>  
><em>In my arms<em>

-In My Arms; Plumb

...

There had been so many people she wanted to say goodbye to.

"_How can you talk so freely and openly about stuff like that anyway? Are you messed up in the head or something?"_

"_Since you already helped me… I can smile and talk openly with you like this… thanks to Kurosaki-kun."_

Perhaps Riruka-chan had been right… perhaps there was something wrong with her head. It was amazing how she could be so understanding about other people's feelings, but she could not figure herself out at all.

She was walking home with Tatsuki-chan, a piece of burnt orange twisted in her fingers. Yes, she had grown her hair out as a proof of faith in Tatsuki-chan…

_Tatsuki-chan, who changed her world. _

She had been drowning. Miserable, shuffling along quietly in the school hallways doing her best to not attract attention; but that goes without saying when she had hair in such a bright color. She hated it. Her stupidity, her hair, her obsession for a boy who would never see her the way she wanted him to…

How could she be so blind? Orihime saw what others could not. Yet, she was the blindest out of them all.

She had known, when Kuchiki-san's return was evident and the smile that had been plastered to Kurosaki-kun's face shown real instead of fake, just like his stride and his laugh and even his scowl…

She had felt her heart's heaviness. Yet she smiled, passed it on, and now she was walking with Tatsuki-chan, these thoughts suddenly possessed her, now that Kurosaki-kun was truly inevitably out of her weakened grasp. Everything, all the good she was sure that came from Kurosaki-kun suddenly seemed to revert to the lean-built dark haired girl trailing in front of her…

"_You may say goodbye to only one person."_

To one person, Ulquiorra had said. Orihime had chosen, of course, Kurosaki-kun. Why wouldn't she? Out of all people, she had most reasons to choose Kurosaki-kun…

But now, with life like this… all that reason was gone, like blowing the fluff off a dandelion and finding it impossible to catch them and glue them back to the weed again.

And, out of all bad choices she made in her life, she found herself regretting- regretting Kurosaki-kun! She hadn't thought it could be even possible…

But it was not Kurosaki-kun she was regretting. No. It was the fact that…

Why, or how, could she _ever_ choose someone else over Tatsuki-chan? Tatsuki-chan, her sole reason to be able to do so much as _smile_ today. Tatsuki-chan, who had somehow managed to merge herself in her brother's place.

Tatsuki-chan, who protected her from people who made her cry.

When she had returned from Hueco Mundo… this was the second- and perhaps last- time that she saw Tatsuki-chan cry. Her face was dark, her eyes immediately welling with tears when Orihime saw her, and then- Tatsuki-chan slapped her.

Slapped her, then wrapped her arms around her neck tightly, those tears suddenly never ending- it was like she had saved all of these unshed tears in her lifetime for this moment- and told her. Her voice a shaky whisper, "You stupid idiot. Don't you know I would die for you? How can you leave like that, you stupid, _stupid_ girl..." And Tatsuki-chan moved back so her eyes were right with hers, and screamed, _"Don't do that again! Don't! No matter what… if you had just told me…! I would have come for you no matter what! Don't you understand, we're nakama!"_

And Orihime, by that time, was crying too, "T-Tatsuki-chan..I'm sorry…"

"_Don't do that again, Orihime…"_

"I won't… I promise…-"

She could not say anything else, when Tatsuki-chan's lips were against her's gently.

Now, 2 years after that incident, Orihime's eyes filled with tears, looking from that familiar back to the floor. She felt herself tumble slightly, and then her hand grasping Tatsuki-chan's sleeve, her eyes closing as she cried.

"He- Orihime? Hey, what's wrong?" She did not open her eyes, but she felt Tatsuki's hand on her face, Orihime pushed her face into Tatsuki's neck, "Hey, I can't understand you if you hide your face…"

It was too late to go back now. She could not rewind the past all the way back and choose Kurosaki-kun over Tatsuki-chan…

"Orihime, stop crying. I don't know what you're trying to say! Orihime…" Tatsuki grabbed her head, trying to gently pull her back, "Orihime, look at me…is it about Ichigo? I wish there was something I could do, Orihime…even if he doesn't see you that way, I still love you…"

She looked up, brown eyes wide with more unshed tears. Tatsuki-chan's face was concerned, her eyebrows slanted in consfusion, "Are you ok?"

_No, Tatsuki-chan. It's not his fault. I'm the one… I'm the one…_

Orihime could not take her compassion. She could not take her kindness, her gentleness with her, her contant eye and her never-ending devotion. She could not take her concerned look any longer.

She could not take Tatsuki-chan's willingness to _forgive_ her for all of her stupid, shallow, greedy mistakes.

Orihime's eyes welled with tears as she toppled forward again, her arms splaying, _"Tatsuki-chan…" _wrapped around Tatsuki's neck, Orihime's voice was muffled when she wailed.

"_I'm sorry."_

Tatsuki was quiet at first, but her grip on her waist tightened and the hand on top of Orihime's head was gentle.

"It's all right. Everything's gonna be alright now."

"No matter who I fall in love with in the future…" Orihime's grip, too, tightened on this precious person of hers, "Tatsuki-chan will always be the only hero in my life…Tatsuki-chan…"

"….I love you."

She had been drowning. In her misery and her despair, and loneliness. And it was Tatsuki who stuck her hand under the water and forced her out, forced her to breathe and move on and _grow._

And now, Orihime understood, more then anything.

_Castles they might crumble _  
><em> Dreams may not come true <em>  
><em> But you are never all alone <em>  
><em> Because I will always <em>  
><em> Always love you<em>


End file.
